While China's J-20 and J-31 stealth fighter programs represent a significant leap forward for the Chinese, observers differ as to whether these programs pose a serious threat to the United States. According to the Pentagon's recently released China report, China's stealth aircraft are not expected to be operational before 2018. However, Richard Fisher Jr., senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington, D.C., said the technology gap that once separated the US and China has narrowed considerably since pictures of the J-20 first surfaced in 2011. "Both programs and their successors ... represent an attempt by China to match and exceed the United States," Fisher said. "China is not going to settle for parity. Like any qreat power, China wants its military to be superior."
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